GARMIYAN, Kurdistan Region - Local farmers in the Kurdistan Region struggle to make profit with their produce as the markets are flooded with imported goods.
Basharat Baqi, a farmer in Kalar, has planted tomatoes across patches of land, hoping to produce 52 tons of the fruit this year.
He has spent around 35 million dinars (around $24,000) but is unable to make any profit due to the market being flooded by imported products.
“Why is this beautiful tomato not worth the money but they sell imported Iranian tomatoes in the market?,” he asked when speaking to Rudaw’s Hunar Hamid on Tuesday
“My products have no buyers in Sulaimani’s market. Sometimes I cannot pay the transportation expenses. I'm forced to give up. There's no point. Either I have to give up or dry the tomatoes.”
More than 100 farmers produce 20,000 tons of tomatoes annually in Kifri.
Although the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG) has imposed a tax of 750,000 dinars ($512) per ton of imported tomatoes. This has still not solved the problems and obstacles local farmers face.
“Those imported products that come from southern Iraq are competing with our products. We will not allow more than a ton of tomatoes at the checkpoints.” Star Ali, Garmiyan agriculture spokesman, said.
Farmers in Garmiyan province plant more than 4,000 dunams of tomatoes annually and produce around 50,000 tons of tomatoes.
Last year, farmers in Sulaimani’s Penjwen district on the border with Iran took to the streets to protest cheap, illegal imports that are leaving them unable to sell their produce and accused the government of failing to secure a market for them. One farmer said that Penjwen’s tomatoes alone are enough to meet market needs across Iraq.
